Work Text:
Taehyun: I’m on my way!
Taehyun: Ah, I just missed the train. I’ll have to catch the next one. Sorry hyung.
Taehyun: OMG look at this cat I saw on the way here.
Taehyun: * pic*
Taehyun: He reminds me of that friendly cat we saw in the neighborhood last week during our walk!
Taehyun: Oh I guess if I hadn’t stopped to take a picture I would have caught my train lol
Taehyun: Ah the guy standing next to me on the platform is wearing something straight out of Yeonjun hyung’s closet.
Taehyun: Sometimes I wonder if I should try that style, but I don’t know if I can pull it off. What do you think?
Taehyun: I have enough time to get coffee while I wait for the next train, do you want one? I can bring it to you.
Taehyun: Ah, I’ll just get you the usual.
Taehyun: What are you doing right now? I hope you aren’t waiting too long.
🎕
Soobin chuckles as he watches the messages roll in one after the other, phone vibrating in his hand with each separate delivery. Taehyun doesn't bother waiting for a response before sending the next thing that comes to mind, a distinct lack of anxiety towards the act of double texting that Soobin had observed since early on in their friendship.
Soobin’s own texting habits were pretty much the opposite. His friends had long learned that getting a response from him was generally difficult and certainly not timely in the case that he did respond. It’s not that he didn’t want to be accessible, but he also wasn’t going to lose this game of League of Legends due to getting distracted by his phone. His friends could wait, while winning could not!
But it was different with Taehyun at least, the sincerity in his messages made Soobin want to respond. As much as it drained his phone’s battery, he didn’t want Taehyun to stop because he found it cute.
As the wall of gray crawled up and up the left side of his screen, Soobin felt his chest get warmer and warmer. A creeping feeling of fondness and sentimentality that was probably brought on by the event coming up. The reason he was meeting Taehyun on this chilly fall day. In less than a week, Yeonjun and Beomgyu were finally getting married and it was Soobin’s distinct honor to be Yeonjun’s best man. And Beomgyu had asked Taehyun to be his.
As the best men, he and Taehyun had been tasked to get matching suits for the wedding. They had been instructed to go to this specific tailoring shop for the job and Yeonjun had given them very detailed specifications that they were to follow. Soobin suspected that Yeonjun would have liked to have been here himself to oversee the operation, but he would be much too busy preparing every other aspect of his dream wedding with Beomgyu, and the best men should at least be able to handle this amount of responsibility. Probably.
”Soobin hyung!”
Soobin looks up from his phone to see Taehyun jogging across the street towards him, one arm securing the gym bag hanging from his shoulder and the other occupied with a drink carrier. He feels his cheeks warm as he smiles and waves in response to Taehyun’s greeting.
Taehyun approaches, slightly out of breath and eyes shining from the chilly air, and offers up one of the coffees from the carrier for him. He must have run here since he had been worried about being late, Soobin guesses.
”Thanks Taehyun-ah. Sorry you missed your train, but I wasn't waiting long,” Soobin assures him.
”Why didn’t you answer my texts?” Taehyun pouts as he rearranges his clothes and straightens his hair from the slightly disheveled state that had been caused by his jog.
Taehyun misses a strand though, and Soobin reaches out to flatten it for him as he answers, ”Sorry! I got kind of lost in thought. Here.”
Soobin: Cutie Taehyunnie. I am waiting~
Soobin quickly types out the reply and watches as Taehyun’s pout morphs into a slightly satisfied smile, cheeks tinged with pink from the cold. He pockets his phone but realizes that he really had just been staring at it with his thoughts wandering for what may have been the past ten minutes. He wasn’t much of a daydreamer usually and he really needed to focus here to do a good job at his given best man task.
“Is this the place?” Taehyun asks, motioning with his head in the direction of the store behind Soobin. “It looks really fancy.”
”Yeah, Yeonjun hyung gave me very specific directions and said to make sure they follow them to the T,” Soobin explains.
”Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t fuck this up and ruin their special day,” Taehyun says with a wink. He whisks past Soobin towards the door, which opens accompanied by the sound of a tinkling bell.
It turns out that Soobin had nothing to worry about. Yeonjun had called ahead and made sure the tailor, Mr. Park, who seemed to be a personal friend of the model, knew exactly who Soobin and Taehyun were and what to do with them.
Soobin has the sense that he has suddenly become the female lead, like in one of those dramas that Taehyun and Beomgyu watch, getting whisked away into a makeover montage, paid for by her rich chaebol boyfriend. It would have been overwhelming, being poked and prodded by Mr. Park, who was going back and forth taking his measurements, if not for Taehyun being subjected to the same by one of the assistants.
While Soobin held his arms up in a T-pose so that the tailor could take his chest measurement, he watches as Taehyun undergoes the same. He giggles as he sees Taehyun flinch as the female assistant’s fingers brush his sides under his arms. Soobin knows that Taehyun is extremely ticklish in that particular area and tries to hold back his laughter when Taehyun shoots him an annoyed look, eyes narrowed.
Finally, once they had taken more dimensions and measurements than Soobin thought was possible, he and Taehyun were finally given a moment to rest.
”We’ll take a moment to make the adjustments and then you can try on the garments and do final tweaks,” explained Mr. Park.
Thirty minutes later, Soobin is called into one of the back changing rooms. He gingerly puts on the shirt, then pants, carefully avoiding the pins holding in excess fabric, then requires some assistance from the attendant for the cummerbund and bow tie. As Soobin finishes easing his way into the jacket, he has a moment to appreciate Yeonjun’s taste while looking in the mirror. The tuxedo for the most part was a classic black and white combination, but the cummerbund, bow tie, and jacket lapels were all a deep navy velvet that had a slight shimmer if the light hit it in a certain direction. A small touch of showmanship that wasn’t overly gaudy was exactly Yeonjun’s aim. It looked good. He looked good.
”Ta-dah!” Soobin unveils himself with a flourish of the changing room curtain.
Taehyun looks him up and down with wide appraising eyes before smiling widely and clapping, the assistants in the store hesitantly following along. Soobin blushes at the awkward applause and ducks his head as he quickly follows Mr. Park’s direction to stand on a pedestal in front of a three-panel mirror.
From here he can see from multiple angles as the tailor flits back and forth, holding pins in his mouth as he makes minor adjustments here, pulling in a little fabric there. Soobin had thought that the suit was already a very nice fit, but it was amazing to watch as the fabric started to perfectly morph to his figure.
Soobin catches Taehyun’s round eyes in the mirror, intently watching the process along with him. Somehow, it makes Soobin feel a little self conscious and he tries to stand up a little straighter, puffing out his chest to fix his posture.
”Please relax, Mr. Choi,” Mr. Park chides and Soobin deflates, relaxing his shoulders. For the remainder of his time on the pedestal, he can’t concentrate on the tailor's work, instead intent on catching glimpses of Taehyun in the mirror when he thinks he won’t see.
But pretty quickly, Soobin gets caught staring, eyes on Taehyun a split second too long and they make eye contact. Soobin laughs nervously.
”Stop staring, Taehyun-ah! It’s embarrassing.”
Taehyun cocks his head to the side, swiping his bangs back with one hand. He averts his gaze to the floor for a second, but then looks back up directly at Soobin through the mirror. “But you look so good, hyung. It’s hard to take my eyes off you.”
Soobin’s brain malfunctions for a moment and all he can do is stare back, as if all his thoughts had fallen into the black holes of Taehyun’s irises. Soobin thinks the depth behind his eyes might be unfathomable, but at this moment, he desperately wants to understand. He needs Taehyun to explain himself, he needs to ask.
”Wh-what?” is what Soobin manages, mouth slightly agape.
”He’s doing a great job. The suit fits you very well,” Taehyun says offhandedly, finally blinking and breaking the spell holding Soobin’s own gaze in place. Taehyun looks down to the magazine that had largely remained unused in his lap and flips a page as he clears his throat.
The last few minutes of the fitting go by uneventfully. However, every time Soobin sees Taehyun move out of the corner of his eye in the mirror, either turning the page of the fashion magazine, checking his phone, or taking a sip of his iced coffee, he can’t help but look. He can’t shake the feeling that he’s still being observed. He can’t figure out why it’s bothering him so much.
Finally, Mr. Park gives an approving hum, deeming the job done. Soobin has to step down from the pedestal before the tailor can help him out of the jacket, without disturbing the carefully marked adjustments.
”Please go to the back and change. You’re free to leave afterwards,” he says, motioning towards the changing rooms with a polite wave.
He turns to Taehyun next, ”and Sir, it’s your turn. Your suit should be waiting for you in the back as well. Ms. Jung will help you if you need any assistance.”
Back in the changing room, Soobin sheds and folds the shirt and pants as neatly as he can. He feels a bit dizzy, perhaps from having to stand up straight for so long. He takes a second to breath, giving his cheeks a few light pats, and shakes away the lightheadedness. He fixes his hair in the mirror before leaving.
”Taehyun, I’ll wait for you. Come out looking pretty, okay?” Soobin calls out before going out to wait in the main store, hearing the rustle of clothes in the other changing room.
”I’m always pretty. Yeonjun hyung says so,” Taehyun calls back.
”Spoiled brat,” Soobin chides playfully. A female assistant, Ms. Jung, stops Soobin as he leaves with a light hand on his arm.
”You both are very handsome. Your fiancé couldn’t take his eyes off you. You’ll look even more amazing on your wedding day,” Ms. Jung gushes in a hushed tone. She smiles at him as if they’ve just shared a secret and returns to her post by Taehyun’s changing room.
”What- No, we’re not-,” but it's too late as Soobin is shooed out of the back rooms.
When Taehyun peels back the curtain, he’s dressed in the same sleek black slacks and white shirt. His cummerbund and bow tie the same velvety material, but tinted a dark maroon, instead of the navy reserved for Yeonjun’s entourage. He holds the jacket under one arm.
Now he can understand why Taehyun was staring. He looks magnificent, his slender waist snatched by the cummerbund, legs elongated by the delicate taper of the fabric. He forgets to clap like Taehyun had, hands frozen in midair.
”Wow. Wow, you look amazing, Taehyun,” Soobin says, awed.
”Help me with the jacket,” Taehyun says as he heads towards the three-panel mirror.
”Oh, I-“ Soobin hesitates, looking towards Ms. Jung, who has conveniently stopped at the entrance of the back room, arms crossed and looking like she has no intention to move. “Sure.”
They stand before the mirror and Taehyun hands him the jacket over his shoulder. Soobin sheepishly takes it and holds it open, inviting Taehyun to put his arms in.
”Careful of the pins,” Soobin cautions, doing his best to maneuver the jacket on in a way that will clear the sharp points away from Taehyun’s body. Taehyun hums in response, sliding into the garment.
Soobin smoothes his hands over Taehyun’s broad shoulders as he settles into the jacket and looks up to meet Taehyun’s eyes again, this time their positions reversed. He waits for Taehyun to say something, to shuffle out from under his hands that still rest on his shoulders, but he remains still.
”It looks good,” Soobin says.
”Yeah, we do,” Taehyun answers with emphasis.
Soobin feels himself blush. Even worse, he can see the exact shade of tomato red that he’s turning in the mirror. He starts and makes a confused sound between a cough or a hiccup in response, words failing. He removes his hands and awkwardly brushes Taehyun’s shoulders as if trying to remove the fact of his presence there entirely.
”Sorry, too far?” Taehyun asks, sympathetically. When Soobin gathers enough courage to look back up at Taehyun, who has turned around to look at him without the filter of the mirror, he’s met with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.
”N-no, you’re right. Yeonjun made a really good choice,” Soobin stutters.
“That’s not what I-“ Taehyun pauses to consider something for a moment, “Yeah. He did. Now sit down and let me have my Princess Diaries moment.”
Taehyun is guided onto the pedestal by Mr. Park and Soobin takes his seat. The same seat, as Soobin is extremely aware of, that Taehyun had sat in and he could see how Taehyun had the perfect view of him in two of the mirrors… and a perfect view of his backside as well. Soobin hangs his head and hides behind his hands. He cannot be thinking impure thoughts right now. He cannot be thinking about how cute Beomgyu’s best man’s butt looks right now. He feels the heat of his blush hot on his hands.
Soobin’s a fool. He had attributed the persistent tightness in his chest to the nervousness caused by writing and rewriting his best man speech, among other things to do with his best friends’ wedding preparations. It really wasn’t every day that he would get to witness two of the people he cares about most in this world tie the knot.
But, no, it's not that. He chances a peek through his fingers at Taehyun, who diligently lifts an arm at the direction of the tailor. His heart skips a beat. Then it gets loud, pounding in his ears. He wonders if the whole room can hear it, the ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump reverberating in his chest. He takes a nervous sip of his coffee, mouth missing the straw a few times from how bad his hands are shaking, unable to hold the cup still. This must be the ‘ oh’ moment.
And of course it’s at that moment that Taehyun looks up and meets his eyes in the mirror. It shouldn’t catch Soobin off guard, but it does. He chokes on the coffee as he swallows, hitting himself in the chest with his fist to clear the blockage and stop himself from coughing. Leave it to him to embarrass himself in front of the man he has just realized feelings for.
Soobin struggles with his own intrusive thoughts long enough for Taehyun’s fitting to finish up. Soobin has spiraled so far that his face has fallen back into his hands. His fingers massage his hairline causing the usual neat black curtain of bangs to become disarrayed. He swipes the mess back and off his forehead when he hears Taehyun call his name.
“Soobin?” Taehyun repeats.
Soobin stands too abruptly, phone falling with an unceremonious clunk onto the seat of the chair next to him.
“Yup, what’s up?”
“I asked how I look,” Taehyun huffs, hands on his hips.
Soobin’s brain is still lagging as he attempts to fish for what he’s supposed to say. There must be something appropriate to say, hidden behind the inappropriate thoughts at the forefront of his brain. Somewhere buried underneath ‘marry me right now’ and ‘I think I love you’ must be a chill, completely platonic complement.
“Great. Fantastic. Super cool.” Three strikes and he’s out. Taehyun steps down from the pedestal. He walks across the floor to stand in front of Soobin, staring up at him with an examining eye.
Soobin fights the urge to clear his throat under Taehyun's gaze, but fails. He watches Taehyun’s eyes trace the bob of his throat and feels his mouth go completely dry. After what feels like an eternity to him, Taehyun releases him from his gaze, looking away.
“Super cool. Hopefully, Yeonjun hyung thinks so too.” Taehyun saunters into the back rooms to change, without another glance at Soobin. When Taehyun returns, dressed back in his street clothes, Soobin is largely in the same exact place Taehyun left him, stunned in place.
Soobin thinks he manages to pass as normal while the Mr. Park relays his instructions to come back next week for the final fittings. Taehyun is nodding in acknowledgment beside him and pulls out his phone to check his calendar against Soobin’s so that they can make the appointment.
Unfortunately, he feels anything but normal about this whole situation. He listens to Mr. Park, but is hyper aware of Taehyun at his side. His slightly smaller frame, compared to Soobins, was now swathed in his loose fitting casual clothes in total contrast to ten minutes ago when the suit had brought out and complimented all the sharp, strong angles of his broad shoulders and tapered waist. Taehyun looks like the friend Soobin has always known, but now, Soobin is distracted trying to pin down why he looks different. Soobin watches as he talks with Mr. Park, brown eyes sparkling, pink lips parted in an open mouthed smile, a strong hand dusting the loose strands of dark hair out of his eyes and behind an ear; Taehyun looks lovely . That was the word that slowly came into focus as Soobin studied his friend. His lovely friend, Taehyun.
In the end, they settle on next Saturday at 2PM.
🎕
After parting ways, Soobin doesn’t see Taehyun for the next week. They’re both busy helping their respective grooms get ready for the big day. Although, ‘helping’ would be a generous term to describe what Soobin is doing as he sits on the other side of a table and listens to Beomgyu fretting over seating arrangements. Any suggestions Soobin had offered had been met with some form of ‘that can’t work’ or ‘are you fucking crazy’, so he had resolved to just humming assent to whatever Beomgyu voiced while his mind wandered towards his newly discovered feelings for Taehyun.
Their appointment rolls around before Soobin has had a chance to fully prepare himself for it and this time Taehyun has arrived first. He’s waiting for him with a bright smile, americano for Soobin already in hand.
“Ready?” he asks, cheerily.
“Let’s do this.”
It doesn't take as long to get into their suits this time around, with no sharp pins to avoid and no excess fabric since the pieces have been perfectly fitted to their individual frames.
They stand side by side in front of the floor length, three panel mirror. Soobin, once again, foolishly thought he could be normal about this, but he finds himself silent and stiff as he watches Mr. Park bounce between them, making minute adjustments here and there. Taehyun carries the one sided conversation easily, chattering away about his week.
“I can’t believe the wedding is already next week. I’ve hardly been able to talk to Yeonjun hyung because he’s so busy, but I still try to help out as much as I can. I’m not sure how many more shades of gold shimmer I can look at for wedding invitation text before I go blind. If we’re being honest, it gets really hard to tell anything apart after the first three–”
Taehyun goes on and on as Mr. Park dutifully works. When he finishes and leaves them alone to take in his work, Soobin barely notices, totally engrossed in Taehyun’s current story about that one time in college he and Yeonjun had accidentally stumbled into a themed cosplay bar and he had watched Yeonjun make out with a guy covered in blue body paint. They had left that night with Yeonjun’s face looking like he had eaten out a smurf.
“Well,” Taehyun says, wrapping up his story. “How do I look?”
Soobin had been giggling along with Taehyun’s story, but quickly sobers up when faced with the question again. He had thought he would be more prepared to answer it this time, even going so far as to prepare a few ideas in advance, but his mind betrays him and blanks. Instead, he nods enthusiastically, not trusting what could possibly come out of his mouth at this very moment. Words like ‘sexy’ or ‘the most attractive man I've ever seen’ come to mind, but are not appropriate to say to a friend. Not when he means it from the bottom of his heart.
Awkwardly, he starts to bring his hands up together as if to applause, an automatic instinct to communicate his positive assurance, when Taehyun tips his head to the side as if disappointed with Soobin's response. Thankfully, he realizes the inappropriateness of the action in the setting and instead hovers his hands indecisively at his sides, fists clenching and unclenching rhythmically, as he tends to do when under stress.
Taehyun senses Soobin’s anxiety and threads an arm around Soobin’s. He hugs it tightly, pulling Soobin into a more relaxed pose, arms links and sides pressed together.
“Smile.” Taehyun pulls his phone out and snaps a quick photo. He holds it out for Soobin to see. Taehyun was right. They do look good.
“You look great,” he says with sincerity, and Taehyun’s warm growing smile as he looks at the photo makes Soobin think he may have finally succeeded in not fumbling a compliment.
“Here, let me take a few,” Soobin offers and Taehyun easily hands him his phone.
Soobin levels the camera at chest height towards the mirror and places his hand on Taehyun’s shoulder. He waits a moment for Taehyun to settle into place, then snaps a few shots.
“Let’s try this,” Taehyun suggests, moving Soobin’s hand and replacing it on his waist. Soobin can feel the soft curve of Taehyun under his palm and makes a herculean effort to ignore it, instead clearing his throat and taking another picture.
He feels the ripple of muscle as Taehyun shifts closer to Soobin, angling his head back and laying it on Soobin’s chest. “Now a sexy one! Come on, for fun,” Taehyun eggs on, seeing Soobin’s hesitation. He motions for Soobin to play along.
Soobin does his best to mimic Taehyun’s expression, lips slightly parted and eyes lidded. Soobin snaps the picture. Taehyung continues to switch from pose to pose, seemingly having fun, and Soobin dutifully continues clicking the shutter button, attempting to capture their most flattering angles. And once he gets into it, it is fun. It’s hard to look bad in a custom suit.
Eventually, Taehyun turns, bringing them face to face. Soobin’s eyes catch the pink of Taehyun’s lips and he can’t stop himself from staring even as Taehyun turns his head to look dramatically over his shoulder at the mirror. Soobin only realizes he’s forgotten to do his one job of clicking a button when Taehyun looked back up at him with a pout.
That pout. Soobin wants so badly to kiss it off his lips. He slides his hand from Taehyun’s waist to the small of his back, intending to dip Taehyun back and take what he wants. But thankfully, his brain catches up with the situations before his actions could cause what would probably have been disastrous consequences. He blushes furiously thinking about what he had just been about to do.
“I think that’s enough,” he pushes Taehyun away with a hand on his hip.
Silence drags on as Taehyun still stands just a few inches away from Soobin, not budging further from where the soft push had distanced him to. Soobin’s face feels like its on fire under Taehyun’s close scrutiny.
"Did you just fall in love with me?" Taehyun says with a soft laugh. A joke. He means it as a joke.
"Yes," Soobin is not playing around. And to Taehyun’s credit, he does not seem surprised by Soobins answer.
“Since last week,” Soobin adds, sheepishly. His hands are balled into white knuckled fists at his sides. Soobin’s second admission takes Taehyun off guard. His wide eyes grow ever wider as he brings up a hand to cover the smirk sneaking at the corners of his lips.
“I should laugh at you, but it's still way shorter than me I guess,” Taehyun admits. He isn’t joking.
“I–,” he struggles to say something in return. Soobin has been relatively tongue tied throughout the entirety of their interactions this week, but now his tongue feels leaden in his mouth. Taehyun turns back to the mirror, and Soobin watches as Taehyun looks them up and down, giving a satisfied hum at what he sees. Then, Taehyun grabs Soobin’s hand and tugs him towards the changing rooms.
“I think we’re good here, let’s get changed. Thank you Mr. Park, Ms. Jung!” Taehyun shouts that last part over to the main counter where the two employees have been scrutinizing something on the opposite end of the store.
Soobin is dragged into the back rooms. He feels the flurry of wind as Taehyun whisks the changing room curtain closed behind them. He pulls Soobin by the tie until Soobin stands over him, caging him against a wall.
“Kiss me?” Taehyun asks.
Soobin wants nothing more in the world other than to comply, so he does. Kissing Taehyun starts off exactly as he would have expected it to feel. Taehyun melts into him, lips falling open as small desperate gasps escape with each breath.
“How long?” Soobin asks, briefly pulling away.
“Freshman year,” Taehyung snickers, pulling Soobin in again with two arms grasped around his neck. Taehyun’s tongue peeks out and licks against Soobin’s lips and Soobin lets him in, tasting a hint of mint from his toothpaste. His kiss-dumb brain doesn’t realize his fingers have started fumbling at Taehyun’s waistcoat buttons until he feels Taehyun’s hand staying his. When they separate, Soobin tilting his head to the side in question, Taehyun just laughs. His lips are cherry red and Soobin just wants to dive right back in.
“Hey, I’m going to a wedding next week and I still need a date. You in?” Taehyun asks casually. They share a laugh and Soobin strokes a hand through Taehyun’s hair and cups his cheek.
“I’ll be there,” Soobin promises, tilting Taehyun’s head back into a light kiss. “I guess we should probably get out of these suits before we ruin them. Your place or mine?”
They leave the store, each with a large bag in hand and holding each other’s hand with the other. Taehyun expertly maneuvers his phone out of his pocket and texts with the hand holding the bag. He attaches one of the many pictures and sends it to his group chat with Yeonjun and Beomgyu.
Taehyun: I’ve got my date!
Beomgyu: FUCKING FINALLY
Yeonjun: congrats taehyun. Glad that dummy finally realized it